The Joint Standing Committee on Defence convened on 4 April 2025 for a critical oversight session with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), during which tensions flared over issues of transparency, accountability, and adherence to international law in the export of conventional arms.
The session was convened to review and discuss the NCACC’s third and fourth quarter reports for 2024, as well as the body’s consolidated annual report.
The NCACC is the statutory body responsible for regulating the trade in conventional arms in South Africa, ensuring compliance with both national legislation and international obligations. Its mandate includes scrutinising all applications for arms exports, preventing proliferation, and ensuring that South African-manufactured weapons are not used to fuel human rights abuses or contravene international humanitarian law.
The committee heard from Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who chairs the NCACC, Deputy Minister of Justice John Jeffery, and Sipho Mashaba, Acting Director for Conventional Arms Control, who delivered a detailed overview of recent developments. Among the key figures presented was a marked increase in the value of contracting permits, which spiked from approximately R1.5 billion in the third quarter to over R16 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, a substantial jump which raised immediate questions from committee members.
In addition to the figures, the NCACC reported progress in modernising its internal systems, notably the introduction of a fully electronic permit application platform. This digitisation, it was said, would expedite applications, reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks, and improve traceability and reporting. The new system is already operational, with the NCACC confirming that all permit applications had been processed up to March 2025.
Despite these reported improvements, the committee’s reception of the NCACC’s presentation was anything but placid. Several MPs expressed deep frustration at the lack of transparency and the perceived evasion of parliamentary oversight responsibilities by the NCACC. Concerns centred around the NCACC’s failure to provide detailed information about end-users—a vital aspect of ensuring that exported arms are not diverted to conflict zones or re-exported in contravention of South African law.
Carl Niehuas, committee member for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was particularly vocal, alleging that South African-manufactured munitions, particularly those produced by Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM), had potentially ended up in Israel and Ukraine. However, these allegations have not been supported by any evidence.
Other members, including the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Nicholas Gotsell and Chris Hattingh, challenged the veracity of the figures presented in the NCACC’s report, noting frequent cancellations and re-authorisations of permits without adequate explanation. They queried how “short shipments” were tracked, how discrepancies were resolved, and what mechanisms existed for post-delivery verification. The members warned that repeated stonewalling of oversight requests undermined public trust and parliamentary authority.
One of the most contentious issues raised was the NCACC’s refusal to allow unannounced visits by committee members to its facilities, something several MPs argued was essential for effective oversight. Members insisted that such visits were not only constitutional but necessary, given the sensitive and high-stakes nature of arms trade regulation.
Jeffery responded firmly to the criticism, defending the NCACC’s processes as compliant with the National Conventional Arms Control Act. He explained that not all information could be shared publicly or with Parliament due to national security concerns and to protect commercially sensitive data. Jeffery denied any deliberate withholding of information, arguing that data was submitted within the scope of the law and was regularly tabled before Parliament.
Ntshavheni acknowledged the gravity of the issues raised but maintained that there was no evidence of any legal breaches by the NCACC. She reaffirmed that South Africa remained committed to its non-proliferation obligations and that the arms control body had procedures in place to investigate any alleged end-user violations, provided credible information was submitted.
Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa added that if any evidence of illegal activity existed, it should be forwarded through proper channels to the NCACC Secretariat and brought before the plenary for assessment. He reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that South African arms exports are not used to undermine peace or human rights abroad.
As the session concluded, committee members expressed ongoing dissatisfaction with the NCACC’s level of transparency. Several MPs called for a review of the legislative framework governing the NCACC, suggesting that the current laws are too restrictive and allow the executive branch to operate with minimal accountability to Parliament.
The Committee Chairperson, Malusi Gigaba, thanked the NCACC and attending ministers for their time but made it clear that the committee would continue to press for greater transparency and operational clarity. Members were invited to submit written follow-up questions, and further sessions on the matter are expected.
The meeting laid bare the growing tensions between parliamentary oversight bodies and executive-controlled regulatory agencies, a fault line that is likely to intensify as international scrutiny over arms trading practices deepens.
The NCACC has not released its full annual report for 2024 yet, but indications are South African defence exports continued to grow. The Committee’s 2023 annual report showed a massive rise in South African defence exports, which totalled R7.1 billion for that calendar year, up from R4.6 billion in 2022.
